Sacrifice of One
by Redemption's Avenger
Summary: The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. When the Vaadwaur severely cripple the Redemption, the crew learns what must be lost, to save the many.
1. Chapter 1

**Sacrifice of One**

* * *

"Sir! Vaadwaur assault cruiser appearing off the port bow!"

"Damn the Vaadwaur!" We had been ambushed by the Vaadwaur again. Their surprisingly good tech had allowed them to become the dominating force in the Quadrant. When we first encountered them, they decimated a Voth Citadel Dreadnought. And now, they're using Underspace, their old subspace corridors, to attack everyone, sometimes even for fun.

The _Redemption_ was getting pounded, while getting drawn into a noose that not even the _Enterprise_ could get out of.

"Sir!" Nelen Exil, my science officer, shouted though the chaos on the bridge, "Aft shields down to 10%!"

"Divert auxiliary power to shields!" I commanded.

"Aye sir!"

"Tactical! Find us a weak spot and head for it! Make a hole!"

"Yes, sir!" Commander Tallasa said.

The _Redemption_ made a sharp right towards a Heavy Artillery Vessel. As the _Redemption_ poured fire into the enemy ship's shields, the Vaadwaur let loose with the artillery that lent them a lot of their firepower.

"Spatial charges incoming!" Tallasa alerted.

"Helm! Rock and Roll!" I said with a tingle.

* * *

The_ Redemption's_ impulse engines flared as the ship rolled over the Vaadwaur ship, leaving behind two fast-moving, runabout-sized hunks of durasteel. Due to how fast the _Redemption_ was moving when the hunks were released and relative velocity, the durasteel hit the vessel's weakened shields and collapsed them. Yet the durasteel lost little speed and did enough damage that the entire ship was gutted. Once the Redemption was past we had clear path to open space.

* * *

"Helm! Maximum Warp!" I shouted.

'Yes, sir!" said Shannon.

The _Redemption_ vanished into warp as a barrage of torpedoes, phasers, and artillery passed though where the ship once was.

On the bridge there was a moment of mental silence where everyone stops thinking of anything except for one thing: We made it.

Then it broke.

"Damage report."

"Hull breaches on decks thirteen though eighteen." The petty at ops said. The normal ensign was in sickbay, a console exploded right next to her. "Emergency bulkheads and force fields active. Engineering teams on the way."

"Tactical?"

"Rear torpedo launcher down, turret down, phaser three down, cannons one and two down." Tallasa looked up at me, worry on her face. "Sir, we've lost fifty percent of our firepower."

"Thorin!" I said, "Get crews on those frontal weapo-"

"Sir!" Shannon interrupted. "We've lost speed!"

I rocketed up out of my chair. "What! How!?" I said.

"There appears to be damage on the port nacelle." He said, "We're currently at warp eight."

"Sir!" Nelen yelled. "Those Vaadwaur ships; they've used Underspace to jump up. It also looks like they gained some friends. I'm reading three new ships, an Heavy Artillery, an Interdictor and," he paused and looked up at me, dread on his face, and said, "a Juggernaut."

"They really want me dead." I mumbled, realizing what I would soon have to do. "That's thirteen ships chasing us."

The bridge crew looked at me waiting for orders that would give them hope, give them a chance to survive.

I already had a plan. But I needed their help until the last moment.

"How long before they catch us?" I asked.

"An hour and a half, sir." Tallasa replied.

"Thorin, get engineering crews to work on the forward weapons. Marlin, send out a general distress call to any Alliance ships in the area for reinforcements."

A chorus of acknowledgements followed my orders.

* * *

An hour later the _Redemption_ was in slightly better shape than it was when it blasted out of the ambush. Shields were fully up and all forward weapons were fixed, but the hull was damaged and, if we were engaged, she would not survive.

I stood up and moved over to the helm.

"How close are the Vaadwaur?" I asked Shannon.

"Fifteen minutes from firing range." He reported.

"Alright." I took a deep breath and said, "Attention, all hands. This is the Captain. As of this moment I am ordering," I paused, "abandon ship."

The bridge crew looked at me in stunned silence as the special klaxons started going off.

"Get all the people you can onto anything with warp capability. Runabouts, shuttles, fighters, the Captain's Yacht. Anyone who can't get on the shuttles, take a escape pod. Shuttles, try and pick up pods on your way out with tractors." I looked at the bridge crew, who were at their stations, trying to comprehend why their captain was abandoning the ship. "Well? What are you waiting for?" I yelled. "GET OUT OF HERE!"

That jolted them out of their seats. "Good luck, all of you." I said, saluting. "It was an honor serving with you."

As the crew left the bridge, I slid into Shannon's seat and began diverting functions onto the console. I heard the turbolift door slide shut and turned around to make sure the crew had left when I spotted that Tallasa was still at her console. I turned back around to work my console.

"That means you too, Tallasa." I said, not looking at her.

"I'm staying, sir." She said, defiance in her voice.

I turned around again. "You know that we'll probably die."

"I know. But I've been with you since Vega. And I'm not leaving you now."

"Alright." I sighed "Take tactical and science functions. I'll take helm and targeting."

* * *

As we prepared on the bridge, shuttles lifted off and escape pods ejected. The _Redemption_ slowed, losing speed and turning around to engage the Vaadwaur. I had planned to save as many of my crew by sacrificing my own life. That meant that I had delay the Vaadwaur. And I was going to kill lots of them before they took me down.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sacrifice of One: Chapter Two**

* * *

As the _Redemption_ closed on the Vaadwaur, adrenaline started pumping. When we were on them, I flew like never before. The _Redemption_ moved about the enemy like a _Defiant_, flitting about, using every trick, every weapon available to take down the Vaadwaur. I destroyed five ships.

* * *

"Engines down!" Tallasa yelled as a tractor beam latched onto us.

"Ok!" I jumped out of my chair, walking to the turbolift. "Computer, bridge lockout. Authorization, Antilles Gamma-76-Omega-11-Alpha-38-Delta.

"Confirmed." the Computer said in its monotone.

"Come on!" I beckoned to Tallasa.

Once she was in I said, "Deck 6. Computer, activate Defense Protocol Antilles."

"Acknowledged."

"What are you doing?" Tallasa asked.

"We are going to stop by the armory." I smiled. "Then we are going to surprise the Vaadwaur."

The turbolift door opened and I walked out at a brisk pace. I reached the armory and headed straight to a small locker and typed in a code: 1138. Inside was two gauntlets. I slipped them on and grabbed a rifle. As I turned around I saw Tallasa holding a full auto rifle and a bandoleer of grenades, looking badass. I smiled.

"You look awesome." I said.

"Need to look good for the history annals." She smiled.

I grabbed two personal shield generators and tossed one to her.

"This way." I beckoned.

We rushed down the hallway, turned the corner and…

"Whoooa." She said. "How did I not know about this?"

At the end of the hallway was a miniature bunker, complete with cover shields, turrets, grenade launcher turrets and a tripod mounted phaser minigun powered by the ship.

"You think that I wouldn't modify my ship? Come on, I'm on the minigun."

The _Redemption_ shook. "That was probably the shields." I said, checking the minigun's condition.

"Why don't they destroy us?"

"Remember the _Llesiet_?"

"Ahh."

"They know the _Redemption_ is a symbol so capturing it will be a drop in Alliance morale."

We settled in, waiting.

* * *

Commander Trey was in charge of boarding the _Redemption_. Sensors had shown that there was only two life signs on board. This would be easy. As he lead his troops though the hallways, he heard murmurs from the lower ranks. Words of deadly, skillful, unkillable. Trey turned and said, "This human is not invincible. He is beneath the power of the Vaadwaur. He will die!"

"Yes, sir!" they shouted.

He proceeded around the corner when he met a blinding light. Then he was on his back, seeing his men getting mowed down by a barrage of light. Then a small object landed beside his head. Then he became the light.

* * *

The first wave of Vaadwaur was unprepared for the amount of resistance that met them. But the next wave would be more prepared. Tallasa readied a grenade and threw it. The grenade hit the back wall and bounced around the corner. There was a flash and several bodies flew into my line of sight. I pumped several shots into the Vaadwaur to make sure that they were dead. I saw a head peak around the corner. I fired a barrage into the wall. The head vanished quicker than a ship going to warp. I sighed. This was going to take a while.

"Get ready! Next wave!" I warned Tallasa.

They ran around the corner, en masse. I opened up, full auto. The turrets around me fired beams, bolts and grenades. Tallasa was sniping individuals with cold efficiency.

I started hearing a _thump-thump-thump_. I saw a barrel begin to come around the corner. It was a Heavy Battle Tank. I opened fire on it immediately. The tank was large enough to support its own shield generator, so it shrugged off the first volley and fired a shot.

Turrets exploded as the shockwave nearly knocked me over. But I held onto the guns' handles and kept firing. Tallasa got knocked over, but she got up, shaking it off. She started firing, taking out the troopers clustered around the walker's feet with deadly precision shots. The shield dome on the walker began to turn opaque under my sustained fire. Then the shield imploded. The walker fired again. Cover shields collapsed, crates got vaporized. Again I stayed up, but my shield generator warned depleted. This time Tallasa stumbled against the shockwave, staying up. Then she took a shot to the shoulder, spinning her to the ground. She stayed down.

"Tallasa!" I yelled.

But I couldn't check on her. I had to keep firing. The barrage I fired mowed down Vaadwaur and left deep furrows in the walker's armor. Several of my shots struck a rotor in the tank's neck, making it's head spin wildly and knocking over several troopers too close to the tank. The fire I kept on the damaged walker was devastating. It was so crippling that the walker's power core exploded, throwing troopers in the air. The light from the blast was so bright that I had to close my eyes. When I opened them I saw a bolt fly in and hit me, knocking me back off of the minigun. I reached over to grab the rifle lying beside Tallasa. I rolled over onto my back, pushing against the floor. When I reached the wall I put my back against it and flipped the rifle to full auto and waited. When the first Vaadwaur appeared I pulled the trigger and held it until I met darkness.

* * *

When I awoke I was on the bridge, in my chair. There was Vaadwaur around me at work stations. I looked to my right. There was Tallasa, stirring. I looked at the viewscreen. There, hanging in front of the _Redemption,_ was the Juggernaut. And standing in front of me was a Vaadwaur Commander.

"Ah, your awake." He motioned.

Two guards stood ready.

"Let me guess," I said, standing up. "You want me to resend the bridge lockout and give control over you?"

The technicians around the bridge were dumbfounded and the commander was stunned for a second.

"Well," he said, recovering his composure, "Yes. And if you don't you-"

"What?" I interrupted, getting in his face. "You'll make my death slow and painful? Guess what? I've had threats like these before. And I've made it out of all of them! What do you have!?"

"I have this." He signaled.

Two of the guards moved over and pushed me to my knees. The commander pulled his pistol and pointed it at Tallasa.

"Resend the lockout or your first officer dies."

I looked at her. She looked at me and gave a tiny shake of her head.

"Well?" The Commander said. "Does she die?"

"Alright! Alright." I sighed. "Computer, resend bridge lockout. Authorization Antilles-Gamma-"

On the viewscreen, where the Juggernaut flew, three giant beams of light pierced though the huge ship, cutting though the unshielded hull. Two of the beams were phaser orange, the other was plasma-green. I saw the beams hit the ship. And in that second I got on one knee, ejected the vibroblades hidden in my gauntlets with a _shunk_, and drove it into the guard's stomach. I grabbed the guard's pistol and shot the other guard in the face. Tallasa had tackled the Commander and was now taking cover behind a console, laying down suppressive fire across the bridge. I grabbed the guard I stabbed and used him as a body shield. I sliced his throat for good measure.

Firing at the Vaadwaur left on the bridge, I made it to the cover of a console. I dropped the body and dove for a panel. I ripped it open and grabbed the rifle hidden inside. I rose from behind the console and began placing precision shots. Weapons fire met me. I advanced forward and took out two more Vaadwaur. With that the bridge went silent. I motioned to Tallasa to go to the left. As I walked around checking any possible hiding places, a Vaadwaur jumped around the corner and fired off a burst. I dove to the floor and tried to bring my rifle into line, but a barrage of fire cut down the man.

I looked over at Tallasa. "Thanks." I said.

"No problem." She looked around the bridge. "We should assess the situation."

"Got it." I paused. "Once I resend the lockout, you vent the atmosphere on all the other decks; I'll check sensors."

I moved over to a working console and resended the lockout to check sensors.

"Looks like someone did get our distress call. I'm reading six ships." I smiled. "IFF reads one of them as the _Starkiller_."

"They're doing quite well." Tallasa said. "We evened out the odds for them."

"Yeah, but do you see that Heavy Artillery? Its bombarding the area." I thought for a second. "Do we have enough power to program and fire a V.A.T.A.?"

"I think so. What do you want it do?"

"I want it to launch from the tube, but not ignite it's thrusters and lock on until it gets within ten kilometers of the vessel."

"Roger." A few seconds later.. "Done."

"Alright." I nodded. "Fire."

The projectile launched from the _Redemption_ and was carried by the propulsion from the launch tube to within ten kilometers. The vessel had diverted it's shields to face the battle. So, when the VATA activated and hit the vessel, it massively damaged the ship, disabling most weapons and making it list heavily.

"Yes!" Tallasa and I cheered.

As I typed in commands, I saw blood come up on the console. I looked at my hands, saw blood, then looked down. There was a gaping, bloody hole in my side. Then a wave of pain hit me. I collapsed against the console. I heard Tallasa say something, but I couldn't make it out. Then I fell on the floor. I faintly heard Tallasa say, "Computer, activate Emergency Medical Hologram!" Then there were two faces above me, Tallasa's and a stranger. Then the darkness claimed me once again.

* * *

I awoke in a medbay. There was some pain and stiffness in my side. I looked around. There was Tallasa and an medical officer. I groaned.

"You're awake!" Tallasa said.

"What... happened?" I asked.

"You got hit by a polaron shot. The _Redemption_ is being towed by the _Starkiller_ to the nearest repair yards." She grasped my and shook it. "Sir, we made it out alive."

"Yes." I leaned back. "What happened to the crew?"

"The _Starkiller_ picked them up. It had gathered up all the Intelligence ships it could to ambush the Vaadwaur."

"Well." I sighed, closing my eyes with satisfaction. "If you'll excuse me, I need some rest."

* * *

"And that is my report."

Admiral Tuvok looked over the written report and asked, "So the Kobali freighter was a trap?"

"Aye sir." I think back. "It was the same technique that Gual used for his hoax of a peace conference. Except this time seven ships came out of underspace and started firing as soon as we started scanning the freighter. And more ships kept streaming in."

"What's the damage to the _Redemption?_"

"Major. Four shield generators destroyed, main deflector a crater, engines damaged beyond repair, gaping holes everywhere on the ship, a cannon all that's left of the weapons," I sigh, "She needs a full three months in a shipyard, getting overhauled. Oh, and I expect to get a couple of upgrades in the process."

"And you will get them. What will you command while she's getting refitted?"

"The _Starkiller. _Got to stay in the fight."

"Hmmm." Tuvok looks down at a PADD and types something in. "I am recommending you for the Purple Heart for bravery and-"

"Sorry sir, but I don't want it."

"Would you explain that, Captain?"

"I was just doing my duty. I was protecting my crew. That's the duty of a Starfleet captain and I did my job. I don't need any metal."

"Logical." Tuvok pulled out a PADD and handed it to me. "Those are your new orders."

I look the orders over. I sigh. "So, I get duped by a empty freighter and now you send me to the homeworld of the Kobali?"

"The _Bajor_ took some casualties in the recent battle. Since the _Starkiller_ is a Galaxy Dreadnought it can carry more personnel and ordinance than the _Redemption_. You are being sent to resupply the Kobali front."

"Aye, sir."

Tuvok stood up and saluted. I returned it.

"Live long and prosper, Admiral Antilles."

I returned it. "Live long and prosper, Admiral Tuvok."

* * *

**Author's notes: **Yes, I do own a Galaxy-X called the Starkiller. The three giant beams of light was the Starkiller, a Phantom, and the Fahet Romulan Intel ship.

**IMPORTANT FOR INTRIGUED READERS! ****My next published Wedge story WILL be listed as a Star Wars/Star Trek Online crossover. Keep an eye out! PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS!**


End file.
